It is well known that a chimney needs to be cleaned regularly in order to avoid the danger of chimney fire and to maintain the efficiency of stoves and fireplaces. It is also well known that roof top chimney cleaning methods can be dangerous undertakings, especially for the amateur or homeowner lacking the skills and safety tools of the trade, and that damage to the roof may also result from roof top operations.
Accordingly, many chimney cleaning devices have been devised to alleviate the hazards and problems associated with roof top cleaning. Some are designed to permit cleaning from the bottom of the chimney where fireplace design permits, for example, those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,942 to Krape, U.S. Pat. No. 1,054,924 to Latzsch and U.S. Pat. No. 181,672 to Grimes. Certainly, these devices eliminate the safety hazard presented by rooftop cleaning but they are generally more complicated and have more potential for malfunction or jamming inside the flue than more conventional chimney-top operated cleaning devices. And, cleaning a chimney from the bottom can be extremely unpleasant and messy.
Other patents disclose apparatus for cleaning the chimney from its top, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,378 to Bowman et al, or various sorts of brushes which may also be used to clean a chimney from the top, as for example seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,536,185 to Johnson or U.S. Pat. No. 150,164 to Kacserowsky. Using these devices, as noted above, can be dangerous for amateurs or homeowners when employed from the top of a chimney.
Notwithstanding the many prior art devices, there remains a need for a safe, simple, easy to operate chimney cleaning device. The present invention may be employed to meet that need.